Litigation Law

The perception that California does not offer a business-friendly environment is due, in part, to a legal system that is inefficient, expensive, and slow to respond to genuine needs. California law offers a litigant’s buffet in the areas of labor and business liability law; particularly wrongful termination, discrimination, and product liability claims. Many small businesses in the Coachella Valley have fallen victim to these superfluous laws. As a result, employers and their insurers often face the painful choice of settling frivolous lawsuits early as an economic tradeoff to mounting a more expensive—though usually successful—legal defense. Civil litigation reform is critical to economic success and protecting our small business community.

Positions

LL-1: Supports reforms to the legal system to discourage and eliminate frivolous lawsuits, including reasonable limits upon recoveries, particularly in punitive damages and non-economic damages, and prevailing party recovery of litigation expenses, including attorneys’ fees, in cases of questionable merit.

LL-2: Supports use of arbitration and mediation for prompt and cost-effective dispute resolution in appropriate circumstances, including employment, health care, property, and automobile accident cases.

LL-3: Supports construction dispute litigation reform and other legal strategies to encourage settlement of issues between builders and homeowners.

LL-4: Supports placing reasonable limits on attorneys’ fees and non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases.

LL-5: Supports appellate review of rulings granting class action certification, similar to established law providing for appellate review of rulings denying class certification.

LL-6: Supports preservation of reforms enacted through California’s Unfair Practice Act, intended to reduce excessive litigation and abusive lawsuits targeted at California businesses;

LL-7: Supports reforms to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) legislation that encourages access rather than litigation.

LL-8: Opposes attempts to publicize confidential business information obtained in the “discovery” process of a lawsuit.